Peter Lorre acted on various stages in Breslau, Zurich and Vienna before coming to Berlin in 1929 when Bertolt Brecht invited him to play the role of Fabian in his production of Marieluise Fleißer's Pioniere in Ingolstadt.

The only world star the German cinema ever produced, Marlene Dietrich’s career spans from Weimar Germany to the Hollywood studios where she worked between 1930 and 1961 with the most acclaimed Hollywood directors.

Paul Henreid's acting career began in Max Reinhardt's theater in Vienna. Refusing to join the Nazi's actor guild in Berlin cut short his German career, but he became a celebrated stage actor in London.

Major support for this program provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Skirball Foundation, Public Broadcasting Service, The Winston Foundation, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, The Lemberg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support for this program provided by Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, The Vital Projects Fund, New Line Cinema, Elaine and Alan G. Weiler, The Karma Foundation, Rosalind P. Walter, S. E. Canning, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Alan Harper, Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Arnhold, Leila and Melville Straus, the Feuchtwanger Institute and public television viewers.